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IAF Chief Expresses Faith In Tejas Month After Talking Tough
By SP's Special Correspondent

CAS visiting ADA ON September 4

October 06, 2014: A month after mincing no words during a visit to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in Bangalore for a first-hand review of the LCA Tejas project, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Saturday professed faith that the indigenous jet would soon surmount the considerable hurdles before it. "We are sure that teething problems of LCA will get over soon, and that things will fall in place," ACM Raha said at the annual Air Force Day press conference in the capital. The first flight of the first series production specimen of the Tejas (SP1) was a boost to the programme last week. However, issues continue to slow progress on the LCA Mk.1 that aims for final clearance to enter squadron service by the end of this financial year. As reported earlier by SP's, that deadline is likely to slip to July-August next year at the very least. In September, according to sources, ACM Raha said that the IAF could not absorb any more delays, and that it was imperative both for the establishment as well as its customer that there was no more bad news from the ADA stable on time overruns. The IAF chief got a chance to try out the LCA Mk.1 cockpit in a simulator mock-up environment. Reports suggest that there may be fresh issues with the cockpit itself, especially for taller pilots that may have been unforeseen so far. ADA has however clarified that all such issues have been taken care of. The LCA Mk.1, to be deployed at the newly upgraded Sulur air force station near Coimbatore, is unlikely to be deployed for frontline service any time soon.